A blockade of all
petrol that arrives by land from India has crippled the country for the past
month. I saw a queue of motorbikes and cars waiting for their weekly ten litres
ration that had more than 6000 vehicles.

My friend Babu
says he waits three days for his ration and he has also bought petrol on the
black market. Fuel prices fluctuate wildly in Nepal but about one hundred and
eighty rupees a litre is about the norm. The black market rate in Kathmandu is
six hundred rupees.

The gangsters are
really cashing in.

Driving is Babu’s
sole business.

He is suffering
badly.

So too are the
post-earthquake re-construction projects which commenced with earnest last
month when the monsoons subsided but most have now all ground to a halt because
of the fuel crisis.

Tens of thousands
of Nepali still live in tents in their villages and throughout the Kathmandu
valley.

More than one
hundred Nepalese villages were completely destroyed in the two earthquakes and
only a handful has commenced rebuilding.

Hundreds of
schools and health centres and public buildings need to be constructed.

With winter fast
approaching the situation is becoming direr.

The situation in
Nepal is often dire. As is always the case, it is the disadvantaged that suffer
the most.

The young and the
elderly.

The resilience of
the Nepali people is astounding.

It really is.

As far as I can
ascertain, the reason for the fuel blockade by the Indians is political.

They don’t like
the new constitution.

Nearly everything
in Nepal comes from India and much of what little is produced here goes to
India.

Particularly the
electricity that is generated by the large hydro dams in the Himalaya.

Very little – if
any of that seems to stay in Nepal.

Black outs and
load shedding are the norm.

The price of
kerosene and cooking gas has also trebled in the last month and many people
have reverted to cooking using wood fuel.

It is much
cheaper.

Cylinders of gas
that would normally cost 1500 rupee now cost 6500.

Few households can
afford it.

Regardless - next
week in the mountain villages and across the Kathmandu Valley clay lamps the
Nepali call diyas will be lit in
households and businesses. These lamps will often burn gee. These are known
locally and appropriately as butter lamps and the smell permeates in Kathmandu
and all throughout Nepal.

The smell of gee
lamps always reminds me of the Tihar festival in Nepal.

It is nice.

Brass diyas burn in all the Temples.

In those that are
still standing after the earthquakes.

In Patan – where I
am right now - beautiful Rangoli are
now appearing in courtyards and in building foyers. These are gorgeous and
intricate patterns made from coloured rice and flower petals as homage to the
Hindu gods and Goddesses.

On the weekend
families will start their own Rangoli
on the floors of their living rooms of their homes.

It is a welcoming
invitation to the Hindu deity.

It is a
come-on-in.

There are five
days in the Tihar festival.

The first is
called Kaag Tihar or Kwah Puja and it is the worship of both
crows and ravens. The craws of these birds symbolize sadness and grief in
Hinduism so devotees make offerings to keep such emotions away from their
homes.

Offerings of
sweets are placed on the roofs of houses.

The second day is
called Kukur Tihar or Khicha Puja – and sometimes Narka Chaturdashi - and it is the day of
the dog. In Nepali Hinduism dogs are the messengers of the God of Death, Lord
Yamaraj. On this day the pooches of Nepal are given great treats and are
treated with much reverence.

The night noises
of Kathmandu for me are the barking of the street dogs and the crawing of the
crows.

When I arrive back
as I lay in bed waiting for sleep to take me I always know I am here by these
sounds.

Like the pre-dawn
morning chants of monks they are comforting to me.

They bring me
peace.

The morning of the
third day of the Tihar festival is called Gai
Tihar – and it is worship of the cow time.

Cows are symbols
of prosperity and wealth and the Nepali Hindus make garlands of marigolds that
the locals call Sayapatri – and they
glam up all of the cows.

The evening of the
third day of the festival the Goddess of Wealth – whose name is Laxmi, is thanked for her gift of prosperity
and this is where all the lights are lit up in thanks and the partying starts.

There is much
singing and dancing.

On the fourth day of Tihar, there are a couple of
varieties of pujas depending on the people's specific cultural background. It
is mostly observed as Goru Tihar or Goru Puja – which is the
worship of the oxen. However people who follow Vaishnavism Hinduism perform something called Govardhan Puja, which is the worship of the holy Goverdhan Mountain.

Cow dung is taken as representative of the mountain and it
is bowed to and worshiped.

I shit you not.

On this day the majority of the Newar community perform something
called Mha Puja – which is basically a
worship of one’s self.

Think self contemplation.

This day is also seen as the beginning of the new Nepal
Sambat calendar year.

In the Nepal calendar it is currently the year 2072.

There is a reason why and I have written about it before.

Look it up if you want.

I am not Wikipedia.

The fifth and last day of Tihar is called Bhai Tika
or Kija Puja and it commences with sisters applying tika to the
foreheads of their brothers.

This is to ensure a long life and to thank them for the
protection that they provide.

Being a big brother is serious stuff in Nepal.

Hindus believe that Yamraj, the God of Death, visited his
sister, the Goddess Yamuna, on this day and she applied the tika on his
forehead and she garlanded him and fed him special dishes.

Together, they ate sweets, talked and enjoyed themselves
to their hearts' content.

Upon departing, Yamraj gave Yamuna a special gift as a
token of his affection and, in return, Yamuna gave him a lovely gift that she
had made with her own hands.

That day Yamraj announced that anyone who receives tilak
from his sister would never die on that day.

So - sisters make a special garland for their brothers
from a flower that takes months to wilt, symbolizing the sister's prayer for
her brother's long life.

The puja follows a traditional ritual in which
sisters circle their brothers, dripping oil on the floor from a copper pitcher
and applying oil to their brother's hair. They then apply a seven-colour tika
on the brother's foreheads. Next, brothers give tikas to their sisters
in the same fashion along with an exchange of gifts.

This ritual is practiced regardless of whether the
brother is younger or older than the sister.

Those without a sister or brother join relatives or
friends for tika.

This festival strengthens the close relationship between brothers
and sisters. In addition to these, the Newar people make colourful Ashtamangala mandalas and recite chants
in accordance with ancient Tantric rituals. Along with the seven-coloured tika,
sisters provide brothers with sweets and a special Makhamali garland, as
well as a sacred cotton thread that is similar to Janai thread. It is worn on
the wrist and is meant to protect their bodies.

The Tihar festival is very much a family affair.

Many of the Hindu festivals involve a reunion with
families and they are wonderfully colorful and particularly nice.

Family stuff normally is.

The five nights of the light festival of the Tihar in Nepal
and Deepavali across India are as spectacular as they are beautiful.